The 1949 season opener "Private Lives," starring Tallulah Bankhead, brought Washingtonians flocking to the Olney Theatre. As the daughter of a former Speaker of the House, Tallulah was considered one of Washington's own. But her late nights and exuberant lifestyle brought about her exile from the actors' residence to a small stone building still standing on Theatre grounds beside Route 108. Here, Tallulah is in dark dress with, from left, Barbara Baxley, Donald Cook, and William Langford.

This undated Olney playbill contrasts the glamor of the show's leading actress with the rusticity of the theater's setting. Diana (1921-60) was the daughter of the celebrated John Barrymore. President and Mrs. Harry S Truman visited Olney Theatre to see "The Philadelphia Story."